Method and means for reproducing printed material

ABSTRACT

A method of reproducing printed material such as old and rare books, manuscripts and the like whereby a considerable savings in cost over known reprint methods is achieved. The reprints are of outstanding quality and are produced at a significantly higher rate than known methods. The process involves the use of an electrostatic copying machine utilizing roll paper, the copying machine having two fusing steps and a brushing step. The latter results in the virtual elimination of the random toner particles on the paper after the first fusing step has been achieved. Thus, a high contrast reproduction print is the result of the present process.

0 United States Patent [151 3,679,302 Ludwig 51 July 25, 1972 54] METHODAND MEANS FOR 3,049,968 8/1962 Johanson ..355/3 x REPRODUCING PRINTEDMATERIAL 3,402,636 9/1968 Gemmer et al. .....355/68 3,437,020 4 1969 Wht tal. ..355 3 X [72] 1mm: wmdbfidge, 3 536 39s 10i1970 Bh aiat ..355/26 x [73] Assignees: Albert C. Nelle, Jr,; Gavin Gale Borden, 3,547,53311/1965 Stokes etal ..355/l8 X New York, N.Y. a part interest to eachPrimary Examiner-John M. Horan [22] 1970 Assistant Examiner-Alan A.Mathews [21] Appl. No.: 14,473 Attorney-Nolte and Nolte 52 us. Cl.355/17, 355/3, 355/25, [57] ABSTRACT R A method of reproducing printedmaterial such as old and rare [51] Int. Cl. ..G03g 13/00 books,manuscripts and the like whereby a considerable Field of Search 17,savings in cost over known reprint methods is achieved. The R, lreprints are of outstanding quality and are produced at a sig- 219/216,388 nificantly higher rate than known methods. The process involves theuse of an electrostatic copying machine utilizing [56] References cuedroll paper, the copying machine having two fusing steps and a UNITEDSTATES PATENTS brushing step. The latter results in the virtualelimination of the random toner particles on the paper after the firstfuslng ElllS tep has been achieved Thus a contrast reproduction 1 ,580,11 Brewster X print is the result ofthe present process 2,652,744 9/1953Goldberg ..355/25 2,816,493 12/1957 Lewis et al... ......355/l5 X 7Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJULZSIBYZ BEST AVAILABLE O 3.679.302

SHEET 1 OF 2 INVENTOR fi'Psase/cf z yaw/g X/ 4% ZTTORNZ minimum BESTAVAILABLE COPY 3,679,302

SHEET 2 BF 2 INVENTOR fi pse/a A yaw/g:

1/ ATTORNEYS METHOD AND MEANS FOR REPRODUCING PRINTED MATERIALBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There has been a great interest inreproducing books such as rare volumes for use by libraries, collegesand universities all over the world. The number of rare books availableare steadily dwindling and at the same time, more and more co]- leges,universities and libraries are being established throughout the world.Hence, there is a great demand for the reproduction of books,manuscripts and documents which are rare and only housed in a few placesin the world. Previously, the reproduction or reprinting of books wasaccomplished by one of two ways as follows:

I. The book was photographed, that is, each page of the book wasseparately photographed with a separate photomechanical negative beingmade of each page. Then an offset plate was made for each of thephotomechanical negatives. Then these films were stripped together in anappropriate arrangement according to the size of the off-set press andfrom this group of negatives an image was impressed on the offset plate.Finally, the offset plates were put in the press and the reproductionsof the books were made. It should be apparent that the foregoing methodis not only slow but also expensive.

2. The second method of reproducing books, etc., is as follows: theoriginal pages of a book were taken out and laid out individually. Theindividual pages were exposed to a large process camera in whichphotomechanical negatives were made. From the photomechanical negatives,offset plates were processed and the plates were put in the press inorder to reprint the book. Finally, the original pages were allassembled and rebound. The foregoing method has been objected to bylibrarians as destructive of books: In fact, this particular method hasbeen ruled out completely in the case of rare books. In addition, themethod was also slow and costly as in method l.

The present method overcomes the objections of methods 1 and 2 andreproduces books in a rapid, efficient and inexpensive manner, andmoreover, makes the print of the book more legible than the original.Thus, the process of the present invention involves the microfilming ofthe book page by page through a suitable filter. Thereafter, themicrofilm is placed in an improved Xerox Copy-Flo Machine. A first heatfusing step is performed thereon whereby the reproduced image is placedon a selected portion of the print roller paper at a radiant energylevel just high enough to fuse the image but not high enough to fuse therandom toner particles present in the Xerox Copy Flo Machine.Thereafter, the background toner clinging to the print paper roll isremoved by means of rotating brushes. Finally, a second heat fusing stepis performed on the print paper roll by raising the radiant energy levelhigher than that employed in the first heat fusing step. Thus, the imageis set on the paper and cannot be removed under ordinary circumstances.

An advantage of the present structure and process is that the microfilmcan be made anywhere in the world where the original material is locatedby means of portable microfilm equipment. Thereafter, the exposednegative microfilm is brought to the location where the Xerox Copy-FloMachine is housed, and the reprint is made on said machine. Moreover,the prints that are produced by the Copy-Flo equipment may be sent toone or more offset lithographers for further reproduction.

It is an object of the present invention to substitute the present novelmethod of reproducing printed material for the known process which isboth time-consuming and expensive.

Another object of the present invention is not only to reproduce oldbooks, manuscripts and the like, but to increase the contrast betweenthe printing and the background thereby making the books, manuscriptsand the like more legible.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a system forreproducing reprints of old and very valuable books and manuscripts at aconsiderable savings in cost over known reprint systems.

Still another object of the present invention is a system to reproduceold books, manuscripts and the like in which bound volumes can bereproduced without damaging or removing the binding or the pages, and inwhich the pages may be copied without distorting the printing in thegutter areas.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an exposure probewhich measures the light reflecting from a background area of thepublication that is approximately one eighth of an inch in diameter,instead of taking a reading from a general area, the latter often beinginaccurate.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a microfilming assembly and lightingarrangement for use in connection with the new method and apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic showing of a strip of microfilm produced insaid assembly;

' FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view of the electrostatic continuous rollcopying machine used in the second step in the present process;

FIG. 4a is a perspective view of rolls, with the lower roll thereofbeing scribed;

FIG. 4b is a partial view of a detail of FIG. 3 in which an additionalpressure roller is shown;

FIG. Sis an enlarged partial sectional and partial elevational view ofthe book and manuscript jig shown in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 1, the object to be reproduced, for example, is therare book B that is placed in a jig 10 having a transparent top plate11. As seen in FIG. 5, the book is maintained in the proper position formicrofilming by means of a plate 13 adapted to press against the book Bas a result of rods 15 and 17, each connected at one end of the plate13. The other end of each of the rods 15 and 17 project through theopenings 19 and 21 of the mounting plate 23 for the jig l0 and thelighting fixture 25 and 27. Captured between the mounting plate 23 andthe undersurface of plate 13 are helical springs 29 and 31 whichfunction to bias the plate 13 and the book B into firm engagement withthe undersurface of the transparent top plate 11 of the jig 10. In thismanner the gutter areas of the book are also pushed up against theundersurface of plate 11 and held thereagainst, resulting in theelimination of distortion in the reproducing of the pages of a bookincluding the gutter areas thereof.

, In order to permit the operators hands to be free, a footoperatedtreadle 37 is operatively connected to the plate 13 by means of aconnecting rod 33 passing through a hole 35 in the mounting plate 23.

In the foregoing manner, the pages of the book may be copied withoutdistortion in the gutter areas of the book. It should also be noted thatthe jig l0 maintains the subject material at a constant distance fromthe lens of the microfilm camera 22. An inflatable plastic cushion 9 issupported by the plate 13. With this arrangement, the book or othermaterial to be copied, is self-levelling against the top plate or glass11. The cushion 9 therefore produces uniform pressure on the book, andalso protects the book binding from scratches and other damage.

In order to eliminate stains and foxing, a Wratten A filter 14 is usedin the camera 22. This filter not only removes the stains but alsoeliminates the yellow and brown of aging paper. Consequently, a goodcontrast is achieved between the printing and the background of thereproduction. A microfilm is therefore produced which is a good blackand white copy. As seen in FIG. 1, the lighting fixtures 25 and 27 arelocated on either side of the jig l0 and even though they are relativelyclose to the jig 10, the transparent plate 11 thereof protects thematerial reproduced against the heat generated by the lighting system.

Referring now to FIG. 3 in which the electrostatic copying machine ofthe type utilized in the present system is shown, a paper web supplyroll 36 is illustrated in which the web W is a form of a one-sidedcoated paper stock and is fed from the bottom of the supply roll 36 in acounterclockwise direction between drag roller 38 and lower engagementroller 40. The web then passes adjacent to the cylinder or selenium drumC and past the transfer grid 42 and the upper guide roller 44.Thereafter, the web is conducted to the first fuser 46 and thencethrough the paper drive or feedout rolls 48. After the paper isfedthrough the rolls 48 a rotating brush 50 brushes the paper web tothereby clean off the unfused toner particles that may be present on thepaper web. Thereafter, the paper moves through the afterfuser 52 whichis set to a higher radiant energy level than that employed in the firstfuser 46. Thus, the image is completely fixed after the paper passesthrough the afterfuser 52. The resultant reprinted paper is finallywound upon take-up roll 54, or may be fed directly into an automaticcutter. The drive rollers 48 are constituted of an upper roller coveredwith a yieldable material, such as rubber, and a lower roller ofstainless steel being scribed at 49 (FIG. 4a). Thus, the lower roller 48synchronizes the travel of the paper web W with the image formingselenium drum C. It should be apparent that there is a marked increasein resolution of the image which is brought about by the use of paperengagement roller 40 and the scribed lower roller 48. Moreover, the useof cooled rollers 48 avoids the significant difficulty of the prior artstructures of offsetting of the image on the copy paper, and especiallyon glossy, clay-coated papers. Mounted adjacent to the rollers 48 is ablower fan 56 for maintaining the rollers 48 at a constant cooltemperature.

As seen in FIG. 4b, another rubber pressure roller 70 is shown forproviding positive traction to the paper web W.

It should be apparent that the first fuser 46 is set at a radiant energylevel which is just high enough to fuse the image but does not supplyenough heat of radiation to fuse the random toner particles in themachine. A very high contrast reproduction of the original printing isreproduced by the present arrangement.

It should be noted that the micro-film camera 22 may be adjusted forfilm advance to produce a uniform overlap of exposures on the microfilm.Thus, with no spacing between the exposures a cutting target could bephotographed together with each book page. Consequently, the printsproduced by the electrostatic copying machine could be indexed to be cutup by an automatic film pring cutter, such as the Kodak K-l 2.

What is claimed is: I

l. A method of reproducing pages of bound books comprising holdingsubstantially complete pages, including gutter portions thereof, flatfor uniform illumination of their surfaces, microfilming the flatsurfaces with illumination and light filtration selected for properlight contrast on the flat surfaces, electrostatically photocopying theresulting microfilm to produce images of the flat surfaces on printpaper, heat fusing the so produced images at a radiant energy leveljust, high enough to fuse the images but not high enough to fuse therandom toner particles, removing such random'toner particles, andfinally heat fusing said images on said paper by raising the radiantenergy level higher than that employed in the first heat fusing step.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising measuring theexposure required for said microfilming.

. 3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said paper is a clay coatedpaper that is heat resistant and remains white after being exposed tothe amount of radiant heat necessary to fuse the image.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1 further including circulating air ontothe print paper while producing said images, for maintaining the papercool.

5. In a photocopy device working on the Xerographic principle and usinga paper supply, a first fuser having its radiant energy level set highenough to fuse the image on the paper but not high enough to fuse therandom toner particles, a pair of paper drive rollers for driving saidpaper, a rotatable brush located in the device after the path ofmovement of the paper through said first fuser and said drive rollers toclean off the unfused random toner particles, and a second fuser havinga higher radiant energy level than said first fuser in order tocomplletely fix said image on said pa er.

6. he combination set forth in c arm 5 wherem one of said drive rollershas an exterior surface of rubber while the other drive roller has anexterior surface of stainless steel.

7. The combination set forth in claim 6 further including a fan blowerlocated adjacent to said paper drive rollers whereby said rollers arecooled.

1. A method of reproducing pages of bound books comprising holdingsubstantially complete pages, including gutter portions thereof, flatfor uniform illumination of their surfaces, microfilming the flatsurfaces with illumination and light filtration selected for properlight contrast on the flat surfaces, electrostatically photocopying theresulting microfilm to produce images of the flat surfaces on printpaper, heat fusing the so produced images at a radiant energy level justhigh enough to fuse the images but not high enough to fuse the randomtoner particles, removing such random toner particles, and finally heatfusing said images on said paper by raising the radiant energy levelhigher than that employed in the first heat fusing step.
 2. A method asclaimed in claim 1 further comprising measuring the exposure requiredfor said microfilming.
 3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidpaper is a clay coated paper that is heat resistant and remains whiteafter being exposed to the amount of radiant heat necessary to fuse theimage.
 4. A method as claimed in claim 1 further including circulatingair onto the print paper while producing said images, for maintainingthe paper cool.
 5. In a photocopy device working on the Xerographicprinciple and using a paper supply, a first fuser having its radiantenergy level set high enough to fuse the image on the paper but not highenough to fuse the random toner particles, a pair of paper drive rollersfor driving said paper, a rotatable brush located in the device afterthe path of movement of the paper through said first fuser and saiddrive rollers to clean off the unfused random toner particles, and asecond fuser having a higher radiant energy level than said first fuserin order to completely fix said image on said paper.
 6. The combinationset forth in claim 5 wherein one of said drive rollers has an exteriorsurface of rubber while the other drive roller has an exterior surfaceof stainless steel.
 7. The combination set forth in claim 6 furtherincluding a fan blower located adjacent to said paper drive rollerswhereby said rollers are cooled.